Changchun, China — On the 25th, a source inside North Korea relayed news that the North Korean authorities have started focusing on trading with China again in order to succeed in the “150-Day Battle” and build a “strong and prosperous state” by 2012.
A Yangkang Province source said in a phone conversation with Daily NK, “Recently, exports cross the Hyesan-Changbai border have increased dramatically. Transactions with China have expanded significantly since June, after exports of certain items such as wood, which had been prohibited for a while under a government land use management project, were resumed.”
The source said, “Even until the beginning of April, the number of vehicles carrying chopped wood through the Hyesan Customs Office was at the most five, more around an average of two to three a day. But since the beginning of June, the number of vehicles transporting chopped and processed lumber has increased significantly, averaging around 15 nowadays.”
The source explained that North Korea put a stop to large-scale wood trading back in 2007 so as to protect its terrain, and only provided export permits to the foreign-currency department of the army, but the export of this commodity resumed recently in order to bring in critically important fertilizer from China.
The source noted that all the copper and zinc ore produced by the Hyesan Youth Mine has been exported to China.
He said, “The Hyesan Youth Mine have not been completely restored and the national production plan has not been confirmed yet, but North Korea has nevertheless stepped up its exports in order to bring in resources for the ‘150-Day Battle,’ mostly in the form of food and fertilizer.”
The 70-odd tons of ore being produced monthly at the Hyesan Youth Mine boasts an extremely high copper content, which has apparently been very well received in China. The production from Bonghwa Extraction Plant, where zinc from Hyesan Youth Mine is processed, has also been exported.
The source also relayed news that “Factory workers in Hyesan have temporarily stopped construction on “150-Day Battle” projects and have been mobilized to do the weeding on farms. Food provisions are limited to these workers.”
Meanwhile, the price of food has been showing a stabilizing trend, with the North Korean authorities providing rations to factories or enterprises whose laborers have been mobilized for farming.
The price of rice in the Hyesan markets, as of the 25th, was comparable to the price in the fall of last year at 2,200 North Korean won per kilogram.
